Trip register



Nov. 13, 1951 A. B. TROUPA 2,574,513

TRIP REGISTER Filed Jan. 24, 1949 19 es 'EEEE QEQQEIQ OARTS on Patented Nov. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRIP REGISTER Albert B. Troupa, Princeton, 111.

Application January 24, 1949, Serial No. 72,527

3 Claims. 1 This invention relates to accessory registers and recorders for automobiles, and among other objects aims to provide a simple and inexpensive device for registering and recording pertinent data relating to purchases of oil and gasoline.

The nature of the invention may be readily understood by reference to one illustrative device embodying the invention and shown in the accompanying drawing.

In said drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the device;

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof with the cover removed to expose the interior;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section thereof taken on the plane III-III of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of a detail showin one of the counter wheels and its associated mechanism.

There has been a long standing need for some simple and inexpensive device which may be conveniently and easily operated to record, register and totalize quantities of gasoline and oil purchases and their cost, both in relation to the total cost of operating the vehicle and in relation to the cost for a specific trip. The devices heretofore proposed have not satisfied this need, apparently because they lacked the facility of operation essential to the success of a device of this character. The frequency with which a device of this character must be employed makes it essential that quantity and costs of purchases be easily and quickly entered at the instant of purchase, a time when the car operator is usually preoccupied with other details. The illustrative device not only provides means for preserving an adequate and complete record of the quantity and costs of gasoline and oil purchases, but provides a simple and easily manipulated means for entering and accumulating or totalizing quantity and costs of successive purchases without requiring more than a few seconds of the car operators attention. It also provides means whereby the same data may be kept for a specific trip While still preserving a total of quantity and costs for the entire life of the vehicle.

For this purpose the face Ill of the housing H in which the operative parts of the device are contained is designed to present all records conveniently arranged. The totalized quantity and costs of gasoline and oil are visually registered by simple manually operated totalizing registers l2, I3, 25 and 26 located inside housing H. Each register embodies a series of conventional digit wheels I 4 and I5 interconnected with the conventional Geneva mechanism, details of which I are well known and form no part of this invention. In the cost totalizing register I2, cents may be recorded s'ufiiciently closely for practical purposes by a single wheel exhibiting units and tens digits thus: 00, 10, 20, 30, etc, and the intermediate positions of the cents wheel may be employed to represent 05, 15, 25, 35, etc. However, if a still closer record be desired two wheels representing units and tens respectively may be used.

A stem I6 projecting from the housing H for each of the counters and bearing manually operated thumb wheels [1, 2i, 2! and 28 are used to operate the respective registers and enter the quantity and cost of a purchase. Since such entry can be easily and quickly done, the car operator can register the several costs and quantities at the instant of purchase, even though he be preoccupied with other matters. As presently explained, the device is located in a readily accessible position to facilitate manufacture of the device.

The face or top It of the device is slotted as at I8 to exhibit a single line of digits on the counter wheels, representing the total carried in the register. Closely adjacent, and preferably just below the registered total of costs, the face It carries an area [9 in which may be entered, if desired, the total exhibited by the register l2 at the beginning of a given trip for which the driver or owner desires to obtain quantity and cost of gasoline purchases. At the end of the trip the gasoline costs for that trip may be determined simply by subtracting the amount entered in area Hi from the total then shown on register lZ. By way of example, register [2 shows a total of $87.50 at the end of a given trip. As shown on area IS the total of $62.50 was entered at the beginning of the trip. This amount subtracted from $87.50 is $25.00 as the cost of gasoline purchases for the trip. At the beginning of the next trip the entryin area 19 is easily erased and the then total on register 12 entered therein. The total of purchases for all trips thus remains in the register.

The mileage traveled on the trip may be determined by recording in a similar area 2% speedometer reading at the beginning of the trip. Subtraction of such entry from the speedometer reading at the end of the trip will give the mileage covered by the trip.

Areas I 9 and 20' comprise light colored rectangular spaces in which the date may be entered in pencil or ink. Such areas are preferably .of such charactenthat the entries may be erased face Hi.

at the end of the trip or whenever they are required'for another entry, as at the beginning of another trip. For convenience, the area i9 is preferably identified by the letter T (representing trip) or some other appropriate symbol.

Register is for registering and totalizing quantity of gasoline purchases is similar to register l2 and is similarly operated by thumb wheel 2|. In this case the fractional of wheel 22 is sub-divided into tenths of a gallon; and the other digit wheels read in gallons. The accumulated total is visible through a slot 23 in the face In.

An area 24 corresponding to area I9 is advantageouslv located below register l3 to receive-an entry of the registered total of gasoline purchases at the beginning of a trip, thereby permitting determination of the amount of gasoline; pur-- chased during the trip by simple subtraction from the total on register H at the end of the-trip; In

the example illustratediiin the drawing the total on the register-atthe end of. the trip is 350 gal of the unit was commenced.

Simple cost and quantity totalizers 25 and 25 respectively are: provided and. similarly employed to register and totalize costs and amounts of oil purchases. These registers: are operated by thumb wheels 21-and28, and the totals are. exhibited through slots :29 and 3| respectively in the Below the respective oilreg-isters are areas 32 and 33similar to-areas l9 and 24 and designed toreceive entries of the totals -on the registers at thebeginni-ng-of a trip for the purposes of determining (bysubtraction as afore said) ouantitv and-costof oil'purchases at the isters'25 andZG are entered .in the spaces 32 and 33 respectively.

An area 34preferably at the topof face In is advantageously provided for recordingithe mileage on the speedometer at the time .of installation of the illustrativedevice so. that subtraction of such mileage from the speedometer reading will give the travelled. mileage for which costs and amounts are totalized by the several registers. In addition an erasable .area 35 is a'dvantageously provided to receivean entry of the speedometer reading when the engine oil should again be changed.

The housing for the device may advantageously bemolded from various plastic materials of the desired'color. Plastic materials are easily molded and provide a decorative and'inexpensive housing. When plastic material is used, the several areas i 9,24, etdarepreferably finished with a dull or very slightly roughened surface (as compared to the highly polished. surface characteristic of the molded plasticmaterials) to provide a tooth to facilitate writing upon the surface of such areas. The surfaces nevertheless permit easy erasure when it is desired to make other entries.

lnthe illustrativeldevicethe; back 38 and sides 39. of the housing are advantageously molded integrally, with theisidesiextending just .beyond the plane of the several reg-istersshaftsa l6, andthe ister shafts in place. .theback 38 thread into portions 43 on the top top edge of the sides has notches 40 molded therein to receive the respective ends of such shafts. The top H] is molded with sight slots l2, 13, etc. for the several registers and preferably with raised portions for the several areas I9, 24, etc. This makes it easy to remove the gloss or otherwise treat such areas to give them surfaces suitable for receiving writing, without danger of marring the adjacent finish of the top. The latter hasalso forrned integral "therewith marginal sides i! which are adapted to register-with and rest upon the sides 39 and serve to retain the reg- Screws 42 entering from to retain the latter in place.

Integral ribs 44 are preferably formed in the .housing for each register to hold each of the counter elements against bodily rotation relaprojecting element, in this'case in the form of a hook 45, to engage a rib M. The registers thus may be inserted and lifted out bodily, being held in position simply by the cover margin and the ribs 44.

The back is also advantageously provided with an adjustable bracket 45. by means of which the device may be mounted at a ,pointzreadil accessible from the vehicle operators position and adjusted to an angle convenient for easy reading and entry of data. r 7

Obviously the inventionis not limited to the details of the illustrative device, since these may be variously modified. Moreover, it is not indispensablethat allfeatures of. the invention be used conjointly, since various features may be used to advantage in dilferent combinations and subcombinations.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1'. A register for keeping an account of the quantities and costs of gasoline and oil purchases for "motor vehicle travel comprising in combination a box-like container having therein two pairs of accumulating registers one of each pair being designed for accumulating amounts purchased and the other the costs of the purchases, each register comprising an oper'at'ing shaft carrying a series of interconnected digit wheels and a positioning device for preventing bodily rotation of the register in said container, the shafts of said registers being located in parallel spaced relationship in said container, spaced apart pairs of notches in the sides of said container to journal said shafts, each shaft being connected to its units order digit wheel andpro'jecting at one end beyondthe outside of the container and, havin a manually operated knob thereon for introducing quantities and costsof purchases into the respective registers thereby to be totalized, a wall of said container having ribsv therein for each register adapted to engage the positioning device to hold it against bodily rotation, said container having a removable cover resting on the sides to hold said shafts in place and having windows therein opposite the respectiveregisters for viewing the digits in the register representing the total in the register, said cover having areas thereon located below each register and being prepared to receive erasable entries in pencil or the like representing'initial totals in the register above the area and in position as to permit easy subtraction of said initial entry from the sum in the register todetermine the respective quantities and costs ofpurchases: since-the said initial total.

2. A register for keeping an account of gasoline purchases for motor vehicle travel comprising in combination a box-like container having therein a pair of accumulating registers provided with operating shafts each connected with its units order digit wheel, one of said pair of registers being designed for accumulating quantities purchased and the other the cost of the purchases, said container having a spaced apart pair of notches in each side, said registers being located in parallel spaced relationship in said container with their shafts resting in said notches, each shaft projecting at one end beyond the outside of the container and having a manually operated knob thereon for introducing amounts of purchases into the respective registers to be totalized, said container having a removable cover having windows therein opposite the respective registers for viewing the digits representing the totals in the registers, said registers having projecting positioning devices, said container having fixed means separably engaged by the respective positioning devices for preventing bodily rotation of the registers relative to said container, said cover having areas thereon adjacent each register prepared to receive erasable entries representing initial totals in the adjacent register for permitting easy subtraction of said initial entry from the sum in the register to determine the total of amounts introduced into the register since the initial total, and means for mounting said register conveniently adjacent the driver's position in the motor vehicle to permit easy introduction of amounts of purchases into the ap-- propriate register at the time of purchase.

3. A device for keeping an account of the quantity and cost of gasoline and oil purchases for motor vehicles comprising in combination a series of manually operated accumulating registers for accumulating respectively said quantities and costs, each register comprising a series of digit Wheels and an operating shaft, a housing for enclosing said registers in parallel spaced relationship, said housing having sides with notches in their top edges for receiving the ends of the respective shafts, one end of each of said shafts projecting externally from said housing and having thereon a knob for manually operating the registers to introduce quantities and costs of purchases in the appropriate registers, said shaft being operatively connected to its units order digit wheel, a cover for said housing adapted to rest on said notched sides to hold said shafts in place, said cover having sight windows therein opposite the respective registers to reveal the digits on the respective register Wheels representing the total in the register, said registers having projecting positioning devices, said housing having fixed means separably engaged by the respective positioning devices for preventing bodily rotation of the registers relative to said housing, said cover having entry receiving means associated with each of said registers for exhibiting an entry representing the reading of said register at the beginning of a trip, each said entry receiving means being located closely adjacent the respective registers to permit easy subtraction of the entry on the area from the quantity exhibited in the corresponding register whereby the quantities and costs of purchases for the trip may be determined by subtracting the respective entries from the corresponding totals at the end of said trip, and means for mounting the device in a motor vehicle in position for easy manipulation by the driver.

ALBERT B. TROUPA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 470,174 Beecher Mar. 8, 1892 930,595 Ferguson, Jr. Aug. 10, 1909 1,544,864 Rule July 7, 1925 1,593,637 Miller July 27, 1926 1,644,471 Hagerman Oct. 4, 1927 1,656,227 Patchin Jan. 17, 1928 1,720,085 Meyers July 9, 1929 1,749,365 Zubaty Mar. 4, 1930 1,824,513 Tibbetts Sept. 22, 1931 1,849,708 Colbert et al Mar. 15, 1932 1,920,844 Curry Aug. 1, 1933 2,156,539 McMurdo May 2, 1939 2,282,852 Chann May 12, 1942 2,408,302 Eriksson Sept. 24, 1946 2,489,030 Herrick Nov. 22, 1949 

